Archived decisions

Hampshire County Council

Executive Member for Policy and Resources Item 9

23 July 2008

Recruitment Under Invest-to-Save Initiatives

Report by the Acting Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

1

Introductory Summary

1.1

The recruitment of a specialist Rating Surveyor will assist in increasing significantly the level of rates savings each year and will ensure that potential savings are not lost to the County Council.

1.2

The proposed appointment will contribute to each of the Corporate Priorities overall by securing real savings to the County Council for reinvestment in its capital and revenue programmes.

2

Recommendation

2.1

That approval be given to the business case as set out in the report for an addition to the Property Services budget of £47,500 funded from the Invest-to-Save reserve.

3

Background

3.1

The existing Rating Team was set up in 2001 comprising three people, one Team Leader, one Surveyor and one Project Officer, and receives funding of £120,000 annually of which £80,000 is provided from school finding and £40,000 from corporate funding on an Invest-to-Save basis.

3.2

The Team's remit is to deal with the rating assessments for Hampshire County Council's properties including schools, ensuring that the rateable values, rates payable and any rebates are correct for each property. By appealing against excessive values the Team has consistently delivered real savings averaging £1m per year to the County Council. Savings in 2007/08 totalled £1,162,714 of which £827,907 related to school and £304,807 to non-school properties. A recent example of how the use of specialist skills in settling Rating assessments can secure significant returns is that of the newly-built Everest Community College, Basingstoke, where successful negotiation by the existing Surveyor has achieved savings of just over £225,000 for the current Rating period.

3.3

Rateable values are reassessed every five years. The current List period runs from April 2005 - March 2010. If a proposal is not submitted for a property then that assessment cannot be revisited until the next revaluation and any potential savings for the current five year List period will be permanently lost.

3.4

A recent review of the areas in the current List for which appeals have not yet been submitted or completed has indicated potential further savings of £4.25m. The existing Team will not have sufficient capacity to achieve these savings in full. Based on previous years it would be reasonable to assume £2m of the £4.25m would be achieved by the existing Team at the end of the current List period in March 2010 leaving a gap of £2.25m over the five years. These levels of potentially lost savings are also expected to apply over the course of the next five year List period from 2010.

4

Proposed Rating Surveyor

4.1

In order to increase significantly the level of rates savings each year and ensure savings are not lost to the County Council, it is proposed to recruit an additional, specialist Rating Surveyor. It is estimated that an additional Surveyor would be able to handle an average of 100 cases a year with typical savings of between £4,000 and £5,000 per case. This increased capacity in the Team would therefore achieve extra savings of £400,000 to £500,000 a year. This is in line with the estimates of potential savings lost to the County Council outlined above.

5

Financial implications

5.1

The additional salary costs would be up to £47,500 per annum plus any approved, annually reviewable market supplements, giving minimum net additional savings in the region of £352,500 each year. Opportunities exist for the recruitment be funded on an Invest-to-Save basis. In the short-term the full funding would need to be found from the savings accruing to non-school properties as school budgets cannot be changed within the financial year but it would be possible to review the school's contribution in the medium term.

5.2

The alternative option considered was to commission private practice firms to deliver the additional work required. Although this would still deliver a net saving to the County Council, the estimated costs of doing this are £130,000 to £166,000 compared to a current maximum of £47,500 annual salary costs plus market supplement payments to employ a Surveyor directly. The long-term continuing nature of the workload (and savings) also supports the use of direct recruitment.

6

Consultation with local Member

6.1

This being a staff recruitment matter, there has been no requirement to consult with Local Members.

7

Conclusion

7.1

The recruitment of a specialist Rating Surveyor will assist in increasing significantly the level of rates savings each year and will ensure that potential savings are not lost to the County Council.

LINK(S) TO CORPORATE STRATEGY

Yes

No

Hampshire safer and more secure for all

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Maximising well-being

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Enhancing our quality of place

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